I somewhat managed to balance birding with running during the first part of the year, but after a long road trip out west in August and September I had to focus on running and my time for birding really suffered.

In July I completed just 5 local bird checklists, visiting only Gemini Springs and the Lake Monroe Boat Ramp. I counted 24 species and took no photos of note.

In August we were away for just over half the month and I did no local birding at all.

In September we returned just following Hurricane Irma. I visited Gemini Springs, damaged and heavily flooded from the storm, one time. I counted 26 species. And a lot of happy little frogs.

In October I got excited to look for local migrants. I recorded 11 checklists for 71 species observed. Gemini Springs and other parks along the St. Johns remained heavily flooded. The frogs were still happy; I had to watch my footing during a bunch of morning runs.

Another tiny froglet at Gemini Springs | 04 October 2017

ALL OF THOSE LITTLE DOTS ARE TINY FROGS! | 04 October 2017

Florida Softshell Turtle in our neighborhood | 06 October 2017

OMG A BIRD! Northern Waterthrush at Mariner’s Cove | 08 October 2017

Green Treefrog that spent a couple of months on our living room window | 09 October 2017

Another happy frog at Gemini Springs | 16 October 2017

Debris from the storm lined roads in central Florida for weeks following the storm. River City Nature Park in DeBary was taken over by big steaming heaps of mulched debris.

Piles of mulched debris from Hurricane Irma at River City Nature Park | 20 October 2017

Bald Eagle at River City Nature Park | 20 October 2017

Gemini Springs was full of Prairie Warblers on 24 October 2017

In November and December I DIDN’T GO BIRDING AT ALL! Take away my birder card, I’m a fraud! I did run through Gemini Springs a few times. The water finally receded below the fishing pier and dam in December (!).

This grass field was under water for almost three months! Taken 04 December 2017

I saw a bird on a run! Red-shouldered Hawk on the Spring-to-spring Trail on 09 December 2017

Bring on 2018! I hope for a better balance between birding and running going forward. We’ll see. First — I’m Dopey!

In June I did my own version of the Green Challenge. Like the standard challenge dictates, I was looking for birds in a single county. I allowed heard-only birds on my list though, and I only listed “green” birds. I had hoped to find 80 species, but I fell short, tallying 77 — the same total I had for this challenge in 2015 (the last time I tried). The complete list is at the end of this post.

Here are some photo highlights from the month.

Red-shouldered Hawk at Audubon Park | 05 June 2017

Sandhill Cranes at Audubon Park | 05 June 2017

I completed 29 checklists during the month. I went to 14 different local birding spots, plus counted birds at home and as I was biking in several locations. I ended up biking over 165 miles.

Limpkin at Lake Monroe Park | 08 June 2017

Eastern Bluebird at Quail Lakes Powerline Trails | 10 June 2017

On the 10th I went to the Quail Lakes Powerline Trails to look for a few target species: Eastern Bluebird; Eastern Towhee; Red-headed Woodpecker; Common Ground-Dove; Florida Scrub-Jay; and Northern Bobwhite. I found all of them, but the bobwhite and scrub-jay were extremely frustratingly heard-only. I stood around for a half hour waiting for a jay to pop up but I didn’t have any luck. What a ridiculous species to record as heard-only. As a consolation I added Killdeer, Northern Flicker, and Brown Thrasher here too.

Eastern Towhee at Quail Lakes Powerline Trails | 10 June 2017

bear tracks at Quail Lakes Powerline Trails | 10 June 2017

Red-headed Woodpecker at Quail Lakes Powerline Trails | 10 June 2017

Six-lined Racerunner at Quail Lakes Powerline Trails | 10 June 2017

The best finds of the month were Roseate Spoonbill and Pied-billed Grebe. A birding friend tipped me off on the spoonbill and I headed out on my bike just minutes later, with sunset fast approaching. I hadn’t seen a “green” Roseate Spoonbill for years, but the grebe was a big surprise — I’ve NEVER had one in June before. Purple Gallinule, Mottled Duck, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Yellow-throated Vireo were all also new green birds for June listing. I was also happy to find Least Bittern at Lake Monroe Boat Ramp, and Purple Martin & Cooper’s Hawk at Gemini Springs.

Before the month began I made a list of past “green” June birds as well as some targets I thought I might have a chance to find. There were some big misses. Wood Stork, American Coot, and Wood Duck shouldn’t have been too hard, but they evaded me. If I had gone birding at a few spots I ended up skipping, I could have probably added Bachman’s Sparrow and Common Yellowthroat. I kept hearing Common Nighthawks on early morning runs but I drove to those. Each time I biked out after dark or before sunrise I struck out.

Eastern Cottontail at Dewey Boster Park | 26 June 2017

Marsh Rabbits at Gemini Springs | 27 June 2017

Great Egret at Gemini Springs | 27 June 2017

Green Heron at Gemini Springs | 27 June 2017

That’s it for June! In July I decided to have a running streak (where I ran at least a mile a day and ended up with 112+ total miles run, my first 100+ month!) so I didn’t get to bird too much.

In May I had 12 checklists to contribute to my 2017 Green Birding List. I recorded 59 species total and added five new for the year (Wood Duck, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Bobolink, Least Sandpiper, and Northern Bobwhite). In May 2015 I had 69 species. The complete list for this year is at the end of this post.

Here are some photographic (mostly non-bird) highlights from the month.

Yellow Rat Snake at Gemini Springs | 01 May 2017

Little Blue Heron (missing foot) at Lake Monroe Park | 02 May 2017

Northern Cardinal at Gemini Springs | 09 May 2017

Bald Eagle at Trout Lake | 16 May 2017

I biked to Trout Lake 4 times looking for Solitary Sandpipers to add to my list, but didn’t have any luck. I did find one the only time I drove there. Otherwise I had four nice visits to the wetland as it progressively dried up throughout the month.

I did a bunch of running throughout the month to prepare for participating in all three races during the Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend at Disney World. Some birds were recorded on the run. And as the photos show, I came across more photogenic reptiles than birds, apparently.

Here are some photographic highlights from the month.

On April 4th I did a long 12 mile run along the East Regional Rail Trail in Enterprise and Deltona. I saw a Ringneck Snake in the middle of the trail. I gave it a poke to see if it was still alive and when it wiggled I picked it up and set it off the path.

Ringneck Snake on the East Regional Rail Trail in Deltona, 4 April 2017

Luna Moth caterpillar on the East Regional Rail Trail, 4 April 2017

Later on the same run, crossing Providence on the way back, I saw a roadkill squirrel in the middle of the road and some Black Vultures loitering around. I picked up the squirrel and tossed it off the road so they wouldn’t get hit by passing cars. Thornby Park was close by so I ran over to wash my hands before continuing the run.

Black Vultures with roadkill squirrel by the East Regional Rail Trail in Deltona, 4 April 2017

Prairie Warbler at Gemini Springs, 5 April 2017

The next day at Gemini Springs I had another close encounter with a snake. Again I wondered if the snake was still living before I picked it up and moved it off the path in the park.

For March 2017 I recorded 84 species over 28 checklists for my Green Birding List. Last time I kept a Green List for March was in 2015, when I recorded 97 species (whoa).

Here are some photo highlights…

Gray Catbird at Audubon Park, 01 March 2017

Northern Mockingbird at Audubon Park, 01 March 2017

Sandhill Cranes at Audubon Park, 01 March 2017

Yellow-rumped Warbler at Gemini Springs, 07 March 2017

Barred Owl at Gemini Springs, 11 March 2017

On March 11 I had a long outing at Gemini Springs. I watched this deer for a while and snapped some photos when she seemed to be a bit relaxed. After she bounded off I waited for a few moments to see if she had any companions. When I finally started walking again another deer came bounding out and followed her off the path. He had a small rack. Later, as I passed the area where they had crossed, I looked over to see if I could spot them in the woods. The female was nuzzling the male and it was a very sweet scene. Aww.

White-tailed Deer at Gemini Springs, 11 March 2017

Several times during the month I headed to Gemini Springs in the evening to try to find a better bird for Bird-a-Day (meaning something I can’t expect to find in the backyard). On March 14th I had a quick spin around the park (and used Sora for my B-a-D) and was delighted to find an otter frolicking around the bayou. I’ve only seen an otter at the park one other time.

North American River Otter at Gemini Springs, 14 March 2017

American Alligator at Gemini Springs, 15 March 2017

On March 24th I took the long bike trek out to the pedestrian bridge over 415 in Osteen over the St. Johns to look for Eastern Meadowlarks and Purple Gallinule. I found several singing meadowlarks and three gallinules. I also got my FOY BIGBY Barn Swallows.

I recorded 68 species to my green birding list for February 2017. The complete list is at the end of this post.

Even though I had 20 different local checklists, I didn’t take too many photos. There weren’t really any unexpected birds, either. Anyway, here are some highlights.

The main reason I wasn’t birding as much last year was that running was taking up a lot of my free time. I’ve been trying to give birding more time this year, while keeping up my modest running base. Some of those 20 checklists in February were incidentals while running. This photo of Wild Turkeys along the East Regional Rail Trail was taken with my iPhone on the run.

Towards the end of the month I had a bummer of a run on a route not frequently taken. Not far from home along the Spring-to-Spring Trail in DeBary I saw a colorful something in the middle of the path ahead of me. I thought it was a candy wrapper, but as I got closer I could see it was a deceased Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. It was so beautiful. It was probably hit by a car. I set it to the side of the path. Later, along a sidewalk in Deltona, I saw what I first thought was a black plastic bag ahead. That turned out to be a dead Black Vulture, probably also hit by a car. I hardly ever see dead birds, and on this run I saw two. 🙁

That’s it! The last part of the month was taken up by Princess race weekend at Disney World and celebrating my 45th birthday with a walk at Circle B Bar Reserve followed by even more Disney fun. On to March! Here come the migrants!

On January 15th Arthur and I brought our kayaks to Gemini Springs on the back of our bikes and kayaked along the bayou for a few hours. We saw surprising numbers of waders. I was able to add Green Heron during the trip, and we picked up a trash bag full of garbage from the waterway.

Kayaking at Gemini Springs, 15 January 2017

On January 17th I biked out to the Quail Lakes Powerline trails next to the power plant in northwest DeBary. I had a few targets: Florida Scrub-Jay, Red-headed Woodpecker, Eastern Towhee, Northern Bobwhite, and Common Ground-Dove. I found all of them except for Bobwhite, plus I found two bonus birds — Brown Thrasher and Eastern Bluebird — on the outing.

Florida Scrub-Jay at Quail Lakes Powerline trails, 17 January 2017

Prairie Warbler at Gemini Springs, 20 January 2017

Unexpected birds are just the best, aren’t they? I was birding around a bushy area of Gemini Springs where Yellow-rumped Warblers are usually plentiful. I had just moments earlier thought about how I’ve rarely found anything but tons of butterbutts in this area, when suddenly I saw a sparrow. I’ve been having a hard time finding any sparrows at Gemini Springs as compared to other years, so I was pretty stoked to find a sparrow of any kind… But zoinks, this wasn’t one of the usual expected sparrows. It was a White-throated Sparrow, not super rare but new for my Florida list and an exciting, totally unexpected find.

White-throated Sparrow at Gemini Springs, 20 January 2017

Nine-banded Armadillo at Gemini Springs, 29 January 2017

On the 31st I biked out to a couple of small local parks, where I added Mallard and Ring-necked Duck to my green list. I also walked around Dewey Boster Park in Deltona hoping to find a two targets, White-winged Dove and Eurasian Collared-Dove. I got the -winged but not the Collared, and also added House Sparrow and European Starling.

Last year Arthur and I visited Costa Rica for 11 days in May. This is Part 3 of my little 3-part series. Here are Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed them. Now I’ll post some highlights from our time traveling from Monteverde to the Los Quetzals National Park area.

May 13 2016
Friday the 13th we had an epic drive from Monteverde to San Gerardo de Dota. We drove along the Pacific Coast and had a few stops before arriving at our lodge well after dark. At Playa Galardonda we added Scarlet Macaw to our life list. We stopped at a ditch along the highway when we thought we saw a kingfisher — we ended up adding both Amazon Kingfisher and Ringed Kingfisher to our list. The best sighting of the day was a brief but clear and diagnostic view of an adult King Vulture flying over the car along a stretch of highway where it was unfortunately impossible to stop.

May 14 2016
Saturday morning we joined a bird walk from a local guide. The target species for this walk was the Resplendent Quetzal and we were not disappointed with great views of at least 5 individuals. We spent the rest of the day birding around the lodge’s property and hiking to a local waterfall. Over several checklists we added 31 lifers: 16 species total; 39 species; 9 species; 13 species.

Male Resplendent Quetzal

Exploring Los Quetzals National Park

Rufous-collared Sparrow at Los Quetzals National Park

May 15 2016
We remained on Savegre property on this gloomy day. In the morning we walked around and looked for birds along a steep and buggy trail. In the afternoon there were torrential rains so we stayed inside. Late in the day we had another short bird outing for the last time on the trip. The following day we picked up huge packed lunches from the lodge to take with us to the airport for our flight back home.

Last year Arthur and I visited Costa Rica for 11 days in May. This is Part 2 of my little 3-part series. Here’s Part 1 if you missed it. Read on for some highlights from our time around Monteverde.

May 10 2016
Tuesday morning we had a guided bird walk arranged by the hotel. During the hike we saw 36 species; we ended up with 20 lifers for the day. We had lunch at a nearby well-known birding hotspot, Stella’s, but it was practically devoid of birds during our visit.

Exploring around our Monteverde hotel

May 11 2016
The Monteverde area is well-known for zip-lining and hanging bridges. On May 11th we visited Selvatura Adventure Park for a self-guided walk around the hanging bridges and a nice long visit to their famous hummingbird garden. We added 14 lifers at Selvatura, including 4 species of hummingbird. Bird lists: hanging bridges walk; hummingbird garden.

Last year Arthur and I visited Costa Rica for 11 days in May. We flew into San Jose on May 6th and rented a car for our trip. We stayed in three different locations for casual birding and exploring on our own: Arenal Oasis Eco Lodge in the shadow of the Arenal Volcano in Fortuna; Hotel El Bosque in Monteverde; and Savegre Hotel Natural Reserve & Spa inside the Los Quetzales National Park. Here I’ll post some highlights from our time around Fortuna.

May 7 2016
In the morning of our first full day we had a guided birding walk arranged by the lodge. We hiked around the lodge’s property and picked up a modest list of 25 species, 22 (!!) of which were lifers. That afternoon we went to a local park, Ecocentro Danaus, where we had a guided walk and explored on our own. Here we picked up 24 species, 15 of which were lifers. Besides birds we saw a 2-toed Sloth with baby, Spectacled Caimans, and an Agouti with a baby. Later in the afternoon we walked to La Fortuna Waterfall and had a dip in the cool fresh water. That evening we took a night hike on the lodge’s grounds and saw lots of interesting snakes, frogs, and insects. I recorded highlights on an eBird list with no birds, including Fer-de-lance, Loquacious Tree Frog, and a baby Hognose Pit Viper.

May 9 2016
We started the morning with a little bit of birding around the lodge before packing up and heading to Monteverde. On the way we stopped at a big cat wildlife rescue center, Centro de Rescate Las Pumas, where we saw 5 species, including 3 lifers. On the drive we picked up several other lifers, including our first Keel-billed Toucan. We arrived at our hotel late in the afternoon and signed up for that evening’s night hike. This time we did manage to find a few birds.